&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspInsight from InfoTrends

In this series we are looking at the world of workflow. Based on your feedback it is a hot topic, especially during the budgeting season. One thing that emerged from the conversations is that we are all using the word workflow, but we don’t all mean the same thing. For some of us it refers to a tightly defined set of processes, while for others it covers the business and production processes within a specific application set, like commercial print or packaging. All of these definitions are accurate, but to have the conversation we need to be able to share our expectations about all of the things that workflow covers.
One way to identify what you mean by workflow is to look at how the term is used in your organization, and to review your documentation of the workflow components. This is the next item in the Workflow Quiz. Start with the workflow documentation you have.

Workflow: The repeatable and auditable tasks, events, and processes used to consistently move work from job onboarding through to completion. Some or all tasks may be automated toward the goal of super-efficiency and predictability in production and supply chain management.

You may have discovered that there is not much documentation available. Don’t panic! Working together we can get you on the road to a well-documented workflow. The first step is to locate what you have available. That may be in the form of vendor manuals, internal strategy documents, workflow diagrams, internal system architecture presentations, or even an assortment of internal emails. This might sound odd, but print out anything you have in email form, and at least the opening pages of any longer documents.

Since, several of the leading companies in the photo industry have U.S. headquarters in the New York metropolitan area, the PhotoPlus Expo (PPE) is a great “home show” for many industry insiders and professional photographers. PPE draws a healthy contingent from the surrounding metropolitan region and has become one of the must attend events for the East Coast. The show included more than 200 exhibitors and was expected to draw 21,000-plus attendees to the show.

Canon, Nikon and Sony once again were PPE show floor anchors, as they were the vendors closest to the main floor entrance, and occupied the largest exposition real estate.

For those who are not familiar with International Print Day, it is “24-hour celebration without borders” for “anyone with an interest in the original communication delivery device…to join the planet’s largest conversation about print in all its forms.” International Print Day starts at 6 pm ET on October 18th (11 pm GMT, 9 am AEST) and will finish 24 hours later. Those wishing to participate on social media should use the hashtag #IPD16.

How are some of the best known designer clothing brands in the world using digital textile printing? If you want to know, you need to go to Italy, where last month about a hundred attendees met at the nHow hotel in Milan to exchange ideas, network, and hear about the latest in technologies and techniques at a conference sponsored by FESPA. FESPA, the driving force behind this event, has been promoting digital printing of textiles across the globe from Italy to Turkey and China.

Milan is one of the world centers for fashion with many brands headquartered in the city, including Armani, Etro, Dirk Bikkembergs, Dolce & Gabbana, Iceberg, Marni, Missoni, Moschino, Prada Trussardi, Valentino, Versace, and Zegna. About 50 kilometers to the north in the Como region, a large community of suppliers and manufacturers have been serving the fashion and décor industries in Europe and beyond for many decades. These companies as well as local associations helped to sponsor the event. These included Platinum partners EFI Reggiani, EPSON, MS Printing Solutions, and Mimaki as well as FESPA ITALIA Association, Sistema Moda Italia (SMI), and Associazione Italiana Disegnatori Tessili. Read more »

Last week I went to Boca Raton, Florida for the 2016 thINK Conference. thINK is a user community made up of Canon Solutions America (CSA) inkjet customers. This conference was the second such meeting and it has grown since the inaugural event in New York a year ago. Attendance is up significantly (from 350 to 450 attendees). Also impressive is the growth in partners. Nine additional partners joined for 2016, which brings the total number of partners to 34. This resulted in a larger exhibit area (or Partner Pavilion, as it was described on site). Finishing systems, paper, and software tools are the recurring themes of these partners.

Keynote sessions included tennis great Chris Evert, inspirational speaker Scott Burrows, the Winterberry Group’s Jonathan Margulies, and David Humphreys of The Economist. Though high-profile keynotes are intellectually stimulating and inspiring, I find that the two most important benefits from events like these are the educational sessions and the opportunity to network with peers. The conference program this year expanded to include twenty sessions across five tracks. Those sessions that I attended were well done and thought provoking. The opportunity to hear innovative peers speak about their experiences is priceless. Two examples will demonstrate this. Read more »

Enterprise priorities today are strongly propelled by improving customer experience. With only about 28% of enterprise respondents in our 2016 Annual Customer Engagement Technologies State of the Market study being satisfied with the experiences they deliver to their customers, there seems to be significant room for improving customer experience. For some enterprises, this means turning to the practice of Customer Journey Management.

We define Customer Journey Management as the automation of (or parts of) customer communications in each point of engagement along the customer journey. This includes customer communications management, dash-boarding and reporting on the customer journey, journey mapping, as well as incorporating collaboration capabilities which allow stakeholders across an organization to actively participate in the customer conversation.

Graph Expo’s first visit to Orlando can be considered a qualified success, in part based on the low expectations that most exhibitors had for the show. It followed drupa, and a drupa year will always be a challenge for Graph Expo. What the future holds for this venerable show is up for discussion.

Let’s first consider attendance in Orlando. Thayer Long, the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC) president, said in a WhatTheyThink interview that the number of visitors (including booth staff) exceeded 13,000. This is down significantly from Graph Expo 2015 in Chicago, but is more or less in line with a reduced show that had at least 30% less exhibit space than in 2015.

InfoTrends is pleased to announce the availability of key findings from the recently conducted “TheFuture of Office Printing” primary research study. The web-based survey consisted of 750 general office workers from the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, and Spain and investigated the market for persistent print in the office.

For most office workers, print is an important tool in their general working lives. To provide an understanding of the key market trends in office printing, InfoTrends’ analysts John Shane, Andrew Carroll, Deborah Hawkins, Barbara Richards, and Christine Dunne will share insights on a few of the survey topics covered in this study during two webinar presentations on November 3, 2016 at 10:00AM and 2:00PM EDT. Together, they will discuss optional versus required printing, printing trends by age, regional printing preferences, persistent print and digital transformation.

The webinar will address some of the key survey findings which include:

Required printing is fairly consistently 60% of people’s print volume regardless of age and company size, and 40% of print is optional

Young workers (18-29 years old) do not show the dramatic decline in printing that is often associated with this age group

Almost 40% of respondents say less than one-quarter of their business content remains on paper

The Future of Office Printing study is a first step toward better understanding the future of work printing and its implications for industry players. If you are interested in the attending the upcoming webinar please click on the links below.

OpenText recently invited more than 350 customers, prospects, partners, and analysts to its Dialogue 2016 conference in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The team rebranded this former HP Engage event to focus on the digital transformation for meaningful conversations across multiple channels. This was the first major event to take place after OpenText acquired the HP Engage and HP Exstream assets for a total transaction price of $485 million.

Last year’s event expanded the focus to the full HP Software portfolio, while this year’s event generally focused more narrowly on the Exstream, TeleForm, and LiquidOffice investments. As in previous years, the event focused on extensive educational sessions directed toward IT and marketing professionals, with networking opportunities to help cultivate a stronger user community. Here are our key takeaways from the event.